Recently, a trend in office environments has been to include an increasing number of electric, electronic, and telecommunication devices in individual work spaces. For example, a single desk or work station may include a telephone, a facsimile machine or access thereto, a computer which functions in a "stand-alone" mode or which is linked to other computers within the same or with one or more remote office environments, a printer linked to the computer and optionally to a facsimile machine, and dictation equipment that may be linked to a remote recorder in addition to simple electrical devices such as lamps, electric pencil sharpeners, and calculators. Each of these devices requires electrical power with the requisite power cord for operation; in addition, many devices, such as a computer, printer, and facsimile machine, require additional cables which provide the pathway for voice or data signals between a source of these signals and the device. As a result, the typical desk can be quite disordered with tangles of numerous cables attached to and between these devices and power and data sources.
The problem of cord management has been addressed in a number of different ways. In particular, devices can be added to the furniture of a workstation itself to accommodate cables. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,629 to Propst et al. discloses a device that can be mounted within a channel located between the work surface of a desk and an upright wall mounted above the rear portion of the work surface. The device includes a hinged plate upon which is mounted a power receptacle strip. The plate is movable between a generally horizontal closed position, in which the plate covers the channel and the power receptacles face downwardly, and a generally vertical open position, in which the power receptacles face away from the vertical wall (toward the front portion of the desk work surface) and thus can be accessed for the insertion or removal of power cords for electrically-powered devices. When the cover is in the closed position, power cords connected with the power strip exit the channel between the bristles of brushes that contact the rear edge of the work surface and thus hide the channel and its contents from view. The power strip is attached to a power cord that is connected to an "energy core" mounted to the upright wall. The device disclosed in Propst et al. fails to include any means for connecting external telecommunications devices to one or more telecommunication sources. Also, the brushes covering the channel are in view and thus can detract from the appearance of the desk.
Another proposed solution to cable management is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,756 to Wilson et al., which discloses a power communication module that is located below and mounted integrally with the work surface of a desk. The module, which includes a single row of electrical power receptacles and communication cable receptacles, resides within a cavity beneath the work surface. A door covering the cavity is hingedly connected with the work surface itself; the upper surface of the door thus serves as part of the work surface when the door is in its closed position. Cables to be connected with power sources exit the module from underneath the work surface; cables to be connected with telecommunication devices exit through a gap between the door and the work surface. The use of this device is limited to furniture in which the work surface is sufficiently large that the use of a portion thereof as the aforementioned door is acceptable. Also, the appearance of the furniture is compromised by the presence of the door on the work surface and any telecommunication cables exiting therefrom. Moreover, there is no direct path between cables exiting the module and external sources, which are often located on a building wall behind one or more panels of the workstation.
In view of the foregoing deficiencies of the prior art, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a device that can connect external electrical, electronic, and telecommunication devices positioned on or associated with an office furniture system with sources of these signals and do so in such a manner that the cables entering and exiting the device are effectively managed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a device that is configured so that cables exiting the device and leading to the source are hidden from view.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a device that is configured so that cables from external devices can be added, removed, and reconnected without the need to move the furniture to which the device is attached.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a device that can be simply retrofitted to an existing piece of furniture.